Identity Groups and Conflicts | The Jerusalem Intercultural Center

Tour of Tel Aviv Institutions for Refugees and Asylum Seekers – Continuing the Learning

On the first of April we were among the organizers of a first conference that dealt with African refugees and asylum seekers in Jerusalem. Last week, on May 27, we continued the learning, with a tour of organizations and institutions in Tel Aviv which are dedicated to helping these populations. There were 26 participants, who covered a wide range of professions – welfare office, well-baby clinics, public health, education, community workers, volunteers, NGO’s, and interested residents who wish to volunteer in the field. The tour included a visit to Mesila, a help and information center for the foreign population, operated by the Tel Aviv Municipality. There, participants heard a survey of the situation of the foreign population in Israel – data, problems, how they live, education of the children, and more. The group split up into tracks, and some took a tour of the central bus station and Neve Sha’anan, areas with large concentrations of refugees and asylum seekers. Here, life has been adapted to its inhabitants, with many stores and restaurants boasting signs in many languages besides Hebrew and English.

Participants were also able to choose to go to a number of different places – Unitaf, grassroots organization that operates a network of day care frameworks for both younger and older children; ‘Babysitter’ a private kindergarten for the refugee population; The Garden Library for the Migrant Communities and Neighborhoods of South Tel Aviv, which is located in the Lewinsky Park – a community center for the refugee population that includes classes for adults, activities for children and cultural activities; children at risk – a meeting with the team head of the children at risk section of Mesila – ways to treat and prevent the phenomenon, and parents classes.

The Garden Library at the Lewinsky Park in South Tel-Aviv

Participants also met with an asylum seeker who lives in Jerusalem, who told of the differences between the community in Jerusalem and the community in Tel Aviv. This includes – fewer in numbers, fewer services available, less crime. At the same time, his description in many ways mirrored the stereotypical description of the Jerusalem population – more serious, they care for and organize child care solutions amongst themselves, and more.

We continued to provide more education for both professionals who care for asylum seekers in Jerusalem and asylum seekers themselves. On June 1, Michal, the coordinator of the refugee and asylum seeker hotline, is giving a talk, with translation into Tigrit, to mothers at the well-baby clinic in the Mahane Yehuda market. The lecture will include explanations on immunizations, healthy snack and diet, and more. There were lots of women at the event (in the families, many of the mothers stay home to take care of the children), and they asked for more of these types of lectures and workshops. We’ll keep you posted.

Naomi Roff2018-06-04T04:39:30+00:00June 3rd, 2014|Asylum Seekers, Blog, Effective Activism, Identity Groups and Conflicts|

‘The Railway Park Is in Our Hands’ – Continued

We reported before about the exciting developments that we’re leading, thanks to the support of the UJA-Federation of New York, together with the Community Councils of Greater Baka’a, Gonenim and Ginot Ha’Ir. Now, almost three months later, we held a follow-up meeting, to see what progress has been made on the various projects that were discussed.

21 May 2014 Railway Park Meeting

This time there were about 20 participants, all those and more who committed to advance different projects on the Railway Park that runs from the First Station near Liberty Bell Park to Teddy Stadium. Participants discussed projects such as:

The Social Platform, which is being advanced by the Max Rayne Hand in Hand School for Bilingual Education, together with the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design.
Plants in the Park
Friends of the Park, who will be concerned with sanitation and other needs, and who will be the Park’s first line of defense in communicating with the Municipality.
Guided tours of the Park

Other ideas that were raised include:

A cooperative Cafe, similar to the Bar-Kayma in Tel Aviv
Establishing an Internet site for the Park
Live music
Communal painting drives

“What was noticeable was the creativity that rose out of a group of very different people, who all love the park,” said our own Na’ama Afek-Barzilay. “There were people there who had not been able to come to the first meeting. There were people there who told that they had moved into the area because of the park. The important take-away from this is that the future of these initiatives in the park really are in the hands of residents. The community professionals will lend their assistance, but their success is based on the residents.”

Naomi Roff2016-12-14T19:19:12+00:00May 25th, 2014|Blog, Deliberative Democracy, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Jewish Religious Denominations, Larger Baka Community Council, Railway Park|

MiniActive Peer Learning with Women from Kfar Qassem

In the everyday operation of the MiniActive project in East Jerusalem, the focus is on that which is in the immediate vicinity – one’s house, one’s street, one’s neighborhood. Occasionally, though, we have an opportunity to facilitate activities that enable our fantastic cadre of women to meet and learn from Palestinian women from other parts of the country. Over the past four months, a group of 25 MiniActive women has been meeting with a women’s leadership group from the city of Kfar Qassem, about an hour’s drive north-east of Jerusalem, just north – west of Rosh Ha’ayin and Petach Tikvah. This group focuses on healthy eating and natural beauty care products and how they relate to the environment. This exchange was made possible through the Kidron-Wadi-El-Nar Program.

January 29 workshop – Kfar Qassem

Beginning in January, both groups participated in a series of exchanges, alternating between Kfar Qassem and Jerusalem. The first meeting, in Kfar Qassem, introduced both groups to each other. The theme of the meeting was healthy eating, and the teacher was a well-known chef from the northern town of Umm elFahem. The February meeting was held in Jerusalem, where the the guests heard and saw more about what MiniActive does. Both groups also went on a tour in southern Jerusalem to: the outlook point in Abu Tor, which overlooks the entire Abu Tor / Silwan area.

February 26 – Abu Tor

The promenade in Armon Hanatziv, with its breathtaking view of the Old City.

February 26 – Armon Hanatziv

Then the group arrived at the Afak school in Sur Baher, which is a school for special needs children that works with its children in an on-site greenhouse, and saves water by using rainwater collecting system to help to water the plants and flush toilets.

February 26 – Afak school

In March the MiniActive women traveled again to Kfar Qassem, and learned about a school’s garden there, about compost, healthy eating. Part of their project includes producing natural plant-based creams and other products and nutritional supplements.

March 26 – natural creams

Yesterday (May 7) we held the final meeting, also in Kfar Qassem. This included a tour of the area and a summary of the encounter series.

Naomi Roff2014-06-04T15:46:41+00:00May 8th, 2014|Blog, Effective Activism, Identity Groups and Conflicts, MiniActive, Palestinians/Arabs|

Who are You Gonna Call? MiniActive!

An integral part of the MiniActive program includes training in effective methods and processes in improving physical infrastructure. As noted elsewhere in the blog, these methods include calling the hotlines of municipal and other services, meetings and site tours with service providers, writing letters, network-building with the MiniActive Facebook page, and more.

MiniActive Magnet

Today, MiniActive added something new to its arsenal – catchy new magnets. The magnets feature detailed explanations about how to register a complaint with the various service providers, including the municipal hotline (106) and the Hagihon water company. It also includes the phone number of the MiniActive project in East Jerusalem.

Naomi Roff2014-05-31T17:12:06+00:00April 24th, 2014|Blog, Effective Activism, Identity Groups and Conflicts, MiniActive, Palestinians/Arabs|

MiniActive Courses: Teaching First Aid to Palestinian Women in East Jerusalem

As noted last year, our MiniActive volunteers work to advance social problems as well as physical problems. This includes expanding education about first aid amongst volunteers. Last year’s first aid course included 20 women from all over Jerusalem; this year, there were 20 – 25 women in each of three locations: Kufr Aqeb in the north, the Muslim Quarter of the Old City, and Umm Tuba in the south.

First aid course 2014

This first course was a basic, 20-hour course, which began in March and is running until the beginning of May. There is significant interest in a more in-depth course (88 hours of instruction), which will enable graduates to also earn money as qualified chaperones for school trips.

CPR demonstration

Naomi Roff2014-05-31T17:32:30+00:00April 20th, 2014|Blog, Effective Activism, Identity Groups and Conflicts, MiniActive, Palestinians/Arabs|

Helping to Improve Health Care for Refugees and Asylum Seekers

Our first major public event to start to help refugees and asylum seekers in Jerusalem realize their rights was the Conference we held at the Zippori Center on April 1. We are working on other levels as well, to advance the plight of these oft-overlooked groups in Jerusalem. One level includes working with the HMO’s that largely work with refugees and asylum seekers make their care more culturally competent to their needs.

Last month we held the first of what is turning into a series of meetings for 23 secretaries and nurses at the main branch of the Meuchedet HMO, which, because of its location downtown, and a special insurance Meuchedet has for foreigners, serves most of the refugees and asylum seekers in Jerusalem. These nurses and secretaries are the first line of communication with patients, and are the ones who first communicate with the refugees and asylum seekers. This encounter came about as a result of our close partnership with the refugee hotline in Jerusalem, and after a number of meetings with the branch management.

The workshop gave participants tools to better understand the numerous cultural gaps, information and tools regarding medical interpretation, and analysis of different situations that the participants encounter every day. In the second part of the workshop Dr. Michal Schuster, our senior consultant and facilitator for the Cultural Competency in Health Care program, presented background about the refugees and asylum seekers – where they came from in Eritrea and Sudan, the complexity of their situation in Israel, on the background of the country’s refusal to review their requests for asylum and refugee status. After the speakers, Barnahu, a social activist from Eritrea who works and lives in Jerusalem, told his story and of the difficulties he encountered in trying to obtain health services in the city. Many of the participants noted that this was the first time they had ever met a refugee or asylum seeker in person, and began to understand his perspective.

At the end of the workshop the Meuchedet staff was moved to action, and asked for another workshop for 25 more employees. They also asked to meet with the administration of the branch, to see how practical responses can be found to help refugees and asylum seekers receive health care services.

Naomi Roff2014-09-25T16:56:41+00:00April 19th, 2014|Asylum Seekers, Blog, Cultural Competence, Cultural Competence in Health Services, Identity Groups and Conflicts|

Cultural Competency in Mental Health Care in Jerusalem – First Graduating Class of Interpreters

We’ve written here and here about the importance of making mental health services – especially in Jerusalem – culturally competent, and the long road that lies ahead. On April 8 we made huge strides in the right direction, presenting graduates of the first class of medical interpreters at the Jerusalem Mental Health Center at Kfar Shaul with their completion certificates.

These 17 graduates – bilingual workers at the main public mental health facility in Kfar Shaul as well as at other facilities throughout the Jerusalem area – represented the diversity of Jerusalem. They came from a broad range of professions at the Center – from nurses to other treatment professionals, as well as a diversity of backgrounds, speaking Arabic, Russian and Amharic as mother tongues. “Cultural Competency is a must in every public health facility,” said Dr. Teitelbaum, Acting Director of the Jerusalem Mental Health Center, in his remarks. “Research shows that treatment is better when the facility is culturally competent. Our goal is that this new skill will improve our ability to treat the patients.”

Indeed, language-dependent care, such as therapeutic sessions or psychiatric assessment, can be unsuccessful if it is not held in the patient’s mother tongue. Research shows that it is easier to express your troubles in your native language and that psychiatric problems are more evident (and therefore treatable) when they are expressed in the patient’s native language. Thus, when caregivers are not available in the patient’s native tongue, a medical interpreter is a vital part of the treatment process. The mental health interpreter not only knows both languages fluently, he or she is also trained to translate the smallest nuances, even if at first they seem illogical or confused. It is this attention to the smallest details that enables the caregiver to more completely understand the patient’s condition.

Our Hanan Ohana, who directs the Cultural Competency Desk at the JICC, noted, “This graduation ceremony means more than 15 or so trained caregivers in the course. The Jerusalem Mental Health Center is a leader in mental health services in Israel. Their enthusiasm for the training will serve as an example for other mental health institutions in Israel, which we expect will follow suit. The support of the administration was very important in this process. Without it, implementation of the program and assimilation of cultural competency principles would be much more difficult.”

Over the course of two months the participants learned the concepts of cultural competency in general, as well as the basic guidelines of medical interpreting, especially in the context of mental health treatment. “This is the first time I’ve taught a course for mental health professionals in Jerusalem,” said Dr. Michal Schuster, Senior Consultant and Facilitator for Cultural Competency, and also a lecturer at Bar Ilan University. “I definitely learned much more than I taught.”

The participants also received specialized training in interpreting into their native languages. “I thought I knew the language I was translating from, and what I was translating into,” said Solomon, of Ethiopian origin. “But this course opened my eyes to a lot of subtleties I wasn’t aware of.” Lilian, a native Russian-speaker, echoed, “After the course, we feel much differently about the interpretation we do. The course gave us so much. It showed us how much more there is to learn.” Shoshi, also of Ethiopian origin, noted, “I never knew that there were so many different inferences, even in my mother tongue. Now I’m much more careful, even afraid [that I’ll interpret something incorrectly].”

During the course

Dr. Schuster emphasized that it is that awareness, of the gravity of the task of medical interpretation, “that is the key objective of the course. “

We would like to thank the Jerusalem Foundation and the Rayne Foundation, whose support made this course possible.

Naomi Roff2014-05-09T14:36:55+00:00April 10th, 2014|Blog, Cultural Competence, Cultural Competence in Health Services, Ethiopian Jews, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Jewish Religious Denominations, New Immigrants, Palestinians/Arabs, Ultra-Orthodox Jews|

MiniActive in East Jerusalem – Updates from the Field

If you follow MiniActive’s Facebook page, and here on our blog, you’ll see that they’ve been extremely busy. But we’ll give you a few summaries here of what they’ve been up to over the past few months.

Numbers

In January 158 complaints were taken care of. In February there were 412 complaints registered and 250 taken care of. In March 2014 alone, were a total of 670 complaints registered to the municipal 106 hotline. Of these, 250 were taken care of.

Before and after road pavement, Wadi Joz

Before and after road repaving, Wadi Joz

Seeing is Fixing

In March and April Palestinian MiniActive volunteers from the southern neighborhoods of Sur Baher and Umm Tuba, respectively, hosted the Municipality’s regional director of planning and infrastructure. Some 40 residents from both neighborhoods spoke about different problems they face, on their respective street, and how they can work to solve them. Issues ranged from re-paving parts of a street, to installing a mirror to increase visibility on narrow, windy roads, to receiving approval to paint (paint themselves) public walls. In Umm Tuba, the tour took place on a road that is to become a ‘model road’, where improvements are going to be made in a number of areas. The women (plus one representative of the men) spoke freely with the regional director, asking how he can help, and he, in return, asking what they can give in return. (For example, they agreed to plant plants, supplied by the Municipality, in public areas.)

There have been and continue to be so many obstacles to improving infrastructure in the Palestinian neighborhoods in East Jerusalem. We continue to be so proud of the MiniActive project in East Jerusalem that has been able to make so many inroads toward improving everyday life. We’d like to thank the Jerusalem Foundation for their continuing support of this program.

Closing off electrical wires

Naomi Roff2014-05-31T17:26:43+00:00April 6th, 2014|Blog, Effective Activism, Identity Groups and Conflicts, MiniActive, Palestinians/Arabs|

Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Jerusalem – a Conference

Political asylum seekers in Jerusalem? Who, what, why, when, and how?

While award-winning movies (and, unfortunately, more frequent news reports) have been made about issues concerning refugees and asylum seekers living in Tel-Aviv, they constitute a significant community in other areas of Israel, one that many of us are very unfamiliar with. Recently, the JICC, together with the Jerusalem Municipality, have been working to better answer their needs by maintaining a municipal hotline for refugees and asylum seekers. You can read more about our involvement at the relevant page on our site and on a previous blog post.

As a way to kick off more comprehensive and effective treatment of and assistance to refugees and asylum seekers in Jerusalem, our municipal hotline, in partnership with the Haruv Institute and the CIMI organization, held a day-long conference. It was held on April 1, 2014 and focused on the issues, dilemmas and responses available for asylum seekers and refugees in Jerusalem.

Dr Hagai Agmon-Snir, Director of the JICC, gives a brief introduction to cultural competence in the context of asylum seekers

The conference was attended by 40 professionals in the fields of education, healthcare and welfare in Jerusalem. “There was a wide diversity of participants,” said our own Tal Kligman, is responsible for the JICC’s activity regarding refugees and asylum seekers in Jerusalem. “They came from the Municipality, from welfare services, from the Ministry of Health, from hospitals, and more. There was such a feeling of camaraderie in the air, one of ‘we’re all in this together,” she continued.

The day was divided into two parts: learning and acting. It began with a panel introducing different perspectives of the lives of asylum seekers and refugees in Israel in general and in Jerusalem in particular – from the legal background, to medical issues to intercultural dilemmas that are faced on an ongoing basis. The panel was followed by speakers from UNWRA, the Aid Organization for Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Israel, and a social entrepreneur who had established a volunteer network to help refugees in Jerusalem.

In the second part of the day, participants divided up into discussion groups to discuss different issues in the fields of employment, realization of rights, children and education, welfare, and healthcare. We’re planning follow-up meetings to enable participants to continue to follow through on a number of initiatives that were discussed during the conference.

One Strong Black – Sudanese Theatre at the conference

The day ended with a performance of “One Strong Black”, an extraordinary play that was created by a group of Sudanese asylum seekers, who are striving to initiate social change through dialogue and openness. The play dealt with the actors’ daily reality, from their escape from Sudan through all their stages of coping living in Israel, and presents a unique, surprising and witty perspective of the asylum seekers community life in Israel. After the play there was a panel discussion with the actors. You can see parts of this play here:

The conference was the opening of what is intended to become a series of meetings to jump-start initiatives to help the plight of refugees and asylum seekers in Jerusalem and its environs. In future meetings we’d like to expand even further the diversity and scope of the participants, to reach as many relevant stakeholders as possible.

Naomi Roff2014-07-11T09:36:52+00:00April 3rd, 2014|Asylum Seekers, Blog, Featured, Identity Groups and Conflicts|

Enriching the Toolbox of the Cultural Competency Coordinator: Passover and Easter Information Sheet

We’ve described here our process of producing information sheets for major Jewish, Christian and Muslim holidays for Cultural Competency Coordinators from around the country. Thus far we’ve produced pages for Muslim Ramadan, Eid el-Fitr and Eid el-Adha, Jewish Ethiopian Sigd, Christian Christmas and New Year, Druze Eid el-Hader and Jewish Tisha B’Av and Asara B’Tevet.

We can now add Jewish Passover to the list:

Passover in Health Organisations 2014

The information had two parts: a sheet that explains the main issues that are relevant for Passover in healthcare organizations, and a Word file with suggested texts for posters in Hebrew, Arabic and English about the practice in Israeli healthcare organizations not to being Non-Passover-Kosher food in to the facility during Passover. In the past, we could see posters that either were not helpful for non-Jewish people, or were written in an insulting way, and were usually only in Hebrew. We hope that our text help to solve this.

Immediately after that, we published another sheet about Lent, Easter and Pentecost (and in Israel we need to know the practices of many Christian Sects in this context, Greek Orthodox, Catholic etc.).

Easter in healthcare organisation March 2014

Naomi Roff2014-05-13T20:23:16+00:00March 25th, 2014|Asylum Seekers, Blog, Christians, Cultural Competence, Cultural Competence in Health Services, Ethiopian Jews, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Jewish Religious Denominations, New Immigrants, Palestinians/Arabs, Ultra-Orthodox Jews|

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